City name

The name Sopot stems from an old Slavic word meaning "spring" or "source". It was mentioned as Sopoth in 1283 and Sopot in 1291. The German name Zoppot is a Germanization of the original Slavic name. Between the two world wars the plural names Sopoty or Copoty were in common use.

History

Founded in the 7th Century

Sopot was founded as a Slavonic (Pomeranian) stronghold in the 7th century. Initially it was a commercial trade outpost for commerce extending both up the Vistula river and to cities north across the Baltic Sea. With time the significance of the stronghold diminished and by the 10th century it was reduced to a fishing village, with the village itself eventually abandoned. However, a century later the area was settled again and two villages were founded within the confines of today's' city: Stawowie and Gręzowo. They were first mentioned in 1186 as being granted to the Cistercianabbey in Oliwa. Another of the villages that constitute today's Sopot, Świemirowo, was first mentioned in 1212 in a document by Mestwin I, who granted it to the Premonstratensian (Norbertine) monastery in nearby Żukowo.

The Sopot village, which later became the namesake for the whole city, was first mentioned in 1283 when it was located as a fishing village and granted to the Cistercians. By 1316 the abbey bought all villages in the area and became the owners of all the area of the city. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) the area was reincorporated into the Kingdom of Poland.

In 1757 and 1758 most of the ruined manors were bought by the Pomeranianmagnate family of Przebendowski. General Józef Przebendowski bought nine of these palaces and in 1786 his widow, Bernardyna Przebendowska (nee von Kleist), bought the remaining two.

In 1819 Wenger opened the first public bath in Sopot and tried to promote the newly-established spa among the inhabitants of Danzig, but the undertaking was a financial failure. However, in 1823 Dr. Jean Georg Haffner, a former medic of the French army, financed a new bath complex that gained significant popularity. In the following years Haffner erected more facilities. By 1824 a sanatorium was opened to the public, as well as a 63-metre pier, cloakrooms, and a park. Haffner died in 1830, but his enterprise was continued by his stepson, Ernst Adolf Böttcher. The latter continued to develop the area and in 1842 opened a new theatre and sanatorium. By then the number of tourists coming to Sopot every year had risev to almost 1,200.

In 1870 Sopot saw the opening of its first rail line: the new Danzig-Kolbergrail road that was later extended to Berlin. Good rail connections added to the popularity of the area and by 1900 the number of tourists had reached almost 12,500 a year.

In 1873 the village of Sopot became an administrative centre of the Gemeinde. Soon other villages were incorporated into it and in 1874 the number of inhabitants of the village rose to over 2,800.

At the beginning of the 20th century it was a favourite spa of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. The city again became a holiday resort for the inhabitants of nearby Danzig, as well as wealthy aristocrats from Berlin, Warsaw, and Königsberg. Soon after World War I a casino was opened in the Grand Hotel as the primary source of money for the treasury of the Free City of Danzig.

Self-governance

In 1877 the self-government of the Gemeinde bought the village from the descendants of Dr. Haffner and started its further development. A second sanatorium was constructed in 1881 and the pier was extended to 85 metres. In 1885 the gas works were built. Two years later tennis courts were built and the following year a horse-racing track was opened to the public. There were also several facilities built for the permanent inhabitants of Sopot, not only for the tourists. Among those were two new churches: Protestant (September 17, 1901) and Catholic (December 21, 1901).

On October 8, 1901, Wilhelm II granted Sopot city rights, spurring further rapid growth. In 1904 a new balneological sanatorium was opened. In 1907 new baths south of the old ones were built in Viking style. In 1909 a new theatre was opened in the nearby forest within the city limits, in the place where today the Sopot Festival is held every year. By 1912 a third complex of baths, sanatoria, hotels, and restaurants was opened, attracting even more tourists. Shortly before World War I the city had 17,400 permanent inhabitants and over 20,000 tourists every year.

The Treaty of Versailles

Following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Sopot became a part of the Free City of Danzig. Due to the proximity of the Polish and German borders, the economy of the town soon recovered. The new casino became one of the main sources of income of the tiny free-city state. In 1927 the city authorities rebuilt the Kasino-Hotel, one of the most notable landmarks in Sopot today. After World War II it was renamed as the Grand Hotel and continues to be one of the most luxurious hotels in Poland.

A Richard Wagner festival was held in the nearby Forest Opera in 1922. The festival's success caused Sopot to be sometimes referred to as the "Bayreuth of the North". In 1928 the pier was extended to its present length of 512 metres. Since then it has remained the longest wooden pier in Europe and one of the longest in the world. In the early 1930s the city reached its peak of its popularity among foreign tourists — more than 30,000 annually (this number does not include tourists from Danzig/Gdansk itself). However, by the 1930s, tensions on the nearby Polish-German border and the rising popularity of Nazism in Germany saw a decline in foreign tourism; in 1938 local Germans Nazis burned down Sopot's synagogue.

World War II

World War II broke out on September 1, 1939. The following day the Free City of Danzig was annexed by Nazi Germany and most of the local Poles, Kashubians, and Jews were arrested and imprisoned or expelled. Due to the war, the city's tourist industry collapsed. The last Wagner Festival was held in 1942.

Soviet occupation

The Soviet Union's Red Army entered Sopot on March 23, 1945. Sopot in 1945 lost approximately 10% of its buildings -- some during the fighting, but a good number burned to the ground by drunken Soviet conscripts after the fighting had ceased on May 8, 1945. The Red Army soldiers burned and looted most of the buildings close to the pier, including the health-spa sanatoria complex.

As per the Potsdam Conference, Sopot was incorporated into the post-war Polish state. The authorities of Gdańsk Voivodeship were located in Sopot until the end of 1946. Most of the German inhabitants who had remained in the city after the evacuation before the advancing Red Army were soon to be expelled, and soon eastern settlers from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union would arrive.

Sopot recovered rapidly after the war. A tramway line to Gdańsk was opened, as well as the Higher School of Music, the Higher School of Maritime Trade, a library, and an art gallery. During the city presidency of Jan Kapusta) the town opened an annual Arts Festival in 1948. In 1952 the tramways were replaced by a heavy-rail commuter line connecting Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. Although in 1954 the Higher School of Arts was moved to Gdańsk, Sopot remained an important centre of culture, and in 1956 the first Polish jazz festival was held there (until then jazz had been banned by the Communist authorities). This was the forerunner of the continuing yearly Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw. In 1961 the first International Song Contest, founded by Wladyslaw Szpilman, was held in the Forest Opera. Two years later the main street of Sopot (Bohaterów Monte Cassino) was turned into a pedestrian-only promenade.

New complexes of baths, sanatoria, and hotels were opened in 1972 and 1975. By 1977 Sopot had approximately 54,500 inhabitants, the highest ever in its history. In 1979 the historical downtown was declared a national heritage center by the government of Poland.

Fall of the Communist regime

The martial law declared by Wojciech Jaruzelski in 1981 and the following period of economical decline ended with the fall of the communist regime in 1989. In 1995 the southern bath and sanatoria complex were extended significantly and the Saint Adalbert spring opened two years later. Thanks to that in 1999 Sopot regained its official spa town status.

In 2001 Sopot celebrated the 100th anniversary of its city charter.

The Future

Sopot is currently undergoing a period of intense development, including the building a number of five star hotel and spa resorts on the waterfront. The main pedestrianized street, Monte Cassino has also been extended by diverting traffic underneath it, meaning the whole street is now pedestrianized. Sopot, aside from Warsaw has the highest property prices in the whole of Poland.

Famous people

The following is a list of notable personalities born or living in the city.

Sports

There are many popular professional sports teams in Sopot and the tri-city area. The most popular in Sopot today is probably basketball thanks to the award-winning Prokom Trefl Sopot. Amateur sports are played by thousands of Sopot citizens, as well as in schools of all levels (elementary, secondary, and university).

Ogniwo Sopot - [MKS Ogniwo Sopot] is a rugby club, founded in 1965. Since the 80's, Ogniwo is one of the best Polish rugby teams. They were undefeated since 1989 to 1993, with Edward Hodura as a coach.

Klub Piłkarski Sopot (KP Sopot)– Football (Soccer) Club founded in 1987. In 2007/08 season it won the Regional Polish Cup.